One of the oldest knife companies in America is celebrating their 150th anniversary.
The company that would eventually become Camillus was founded in 1876, which means this is a big round-number year for them. They’ve decided to commemorate it with a tin set of the Buck 112 to honor their time manufacturing Buck’s 110, 112, and 300 series during the 60’s and 70’s.
Here are the quick specs:
- 3″ clip point blade
- 420HC steel
- Ebony wood handle w/ brass bolsters
- Back lock
- $229 MSRP
The blade features a 150th anniversary etching and comes with a 150th Anniversary challenge coin. Besides the dressing, their commemorative Buck 112 appears to have the same dimensions, materials, and rounded shaping of the modern 112, but Camillus hasn’t given any indication where these knives were made.
They’re only making 500 of these Anniversary Tin Sets, so time might be limited on picking one up. They’re available now from the Camillus website, and some of your favorite retailers.
The Camillus Name
Strictly speaking, the Camillus name only goes back to 1902, when the Kastor & Bros. import hardware firm (founded by the Kastor brothers in 1876) bought a pocket knife factory in Camillus, New York. [1]
Up to that point, the Kastor Bros. had been running various businesses making cutlery in Solingen, Germany, buying some from Sheffield, England, and reselling in America. The McKinley and Dingley Tarriffs of the 1890’s hit import the business hard, though, so they shopped around for a place to make knives in the US. [2]
They landed in Camillus, and that’s when the Camillus Cutlery Co. name started. But even then, that was a cutlery company under the Kastor Bros umbrella. They went on to make knives for the Canadian, British, and U.S. navies, and by 1936 they were one of the biggest suppliers of private branded knives. It wasn’t until 1947 that Kastor Bros. gave way completely to Camillus Cutlery.
So the history of the company goes back to 1876, but its US manufacturing, and by extension the Camillus name, started in1902. Which isn’t to diminish the 150 number so much as to show there’s more to it than just a number.
Camillus Today
Camillus has changed hands quite a few times over the last century. The most recent change was being acquired by GSM Outdoors at the end of 2023 (which was three years after the Cold Steel acquisition, and two years after SOG). Their releases have been fairly quiet since then, where right before the acquisition they seemed to be on a run of releasing modern-styled folders like the Rovax and the Regent.
The Anniversary 112 is the most notable thing they’ve put out in the last three years (certainly the only thing we can remember getting a press release for), so it will be interesting to see where the company goes from here.
References:
[1] Levine, Bernard. Levine’s Guide to Knives and their Values. 2nd ed.
[2] Thomas, Dr. Larrin. The Story of Knife Steel..
